Changeless World
by Mizu T. Kantou
Summary: Jonas has returned to the Community to find the source of his memories, but he soon finds himself trapped within them. (slash)


A Changeless World  
  
Mizu T. Kantou  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything but the plot. Everything else belongs to Lois Lowry. I'm not making any money for this. It's just for fun.  
  
A/N: Yes, that should be enough. Anyway, I expect this story will go on for a while, but here is the beginning. Also, even though I'm not completely sure myself, for the sake of the story pretend Jonas survived his journey and got somewhere else, okay? Okay. This story was inspired by Mizu listening to "Across the Universe" as sung by Rufus Wainwright one time too many. Also, please excuse the lack of indenting, I still don't know how to indent using HTML (because I'm stupid ^_^) so if anyone could help me I would be much obliged.  
  
WARNING: This will eventually be slash or m/m. You have been warned.  
  
Jonas gazed out the window of the deep bellied plane. The nondescript landscape spread out below him, the colors would flicker occasionally especially the less vivid ones, but mostly the area below remained a pale autumn brown. It had been ten years since he had last seen this place, ten long years. He could still remember waking up in a hospital on Christmas day. He hadn't known where he was at first, but the young woman there had told him that her children had found him nearly frozen on the hill near their house the night before. Gabriel had been fine too. In fact, he had woken up a good six hours before Jonas. The two of them had spent a few more days in the hospital before being released into the custody of the people who had found them. Jonas could still remember the horrible feeling in his stomach when he had told the doctors that he didn't have any parents, that they were dead. It wasn't as if he had much of a choice. If he hadn't lied he knew that they could have easily found out where he had come from and sent him back and as much as he hated that place he could not tell them what was happening in the community because there were still people there he cared about, his mother, his father, Lily, Fiona, and Asher, he couldn't possibly have risked them. Though he wasn't positive what danger he thought might befall them if he spoke. Asher, Jonas thought about his friend more and more everyday. He wondered if he had been assigned a spouse, if he had applied for children, if he had ever gotten a better hold on his language. Jonas chuckled softly as he remembered one of the many times Asher had begun talking excitedly about something and tripped helplessly over the words. He tried for a moment to recall his friend's faces, their voices, their colors. Most of them had long since slipped away from him, but he could recall Fiona's hair and Asher's eyes and oddly enough Lily's hair ribbons. He often thought about Lily and what became of her and the rest of his family. He supposed that he would find out soon enough. The plane had begun to descend and he could even see the river below. How odd it was to be coming back here again and he wasn't simply dropping off food this time. He was going to be traveling with a group of men and women who would be observing the community for a month.  
  
"I wonder if anyone will even recognize me…" He murmured to himself then decided that perhaps he had done enough wondering for one day.  
  
  
  
Across the river another young man tried to teach a girl-child how to catch.  
  
"Just hold out your hand, Jessica, it's really quite easy."  
  
"Yes, sir," her eyes still betrayed her uncertainty, but she held out her hand as he asked.  
  
"Good, now when I throw the ball to you just catch in your hand."  
  
The girl nodded and the young man tossed the ball gently toward her. The girl flinched, but caught it.  
  
"Wonderfully done, now if you'll excuse me," the young man stood up and walked over to a table where two boys were rolling an apple back and forth. "Food is for eating, boys," he called over his shoulder. The two boys blushed and put the apple back in basket with the rest of the uneaten snacks.  
  
"Asher," a polite voice said from behind him.  
  
"Hello, Fiona," he replied with a small smile. "How are you?"  
  
"They released Margaret today. There was a lovely ceremony."  
  
Asher smiled. He himself had never seen a releasing ceremony. He didn't have any need to, unlike Fiona who handled them almost once a week. He also knew that it was impolite to ask about Release as it was a very intimate subject for the old and their caretakers.  
  
"Asher, it's time to go back to the dwellings now. Most of the children have already gone." She was right, almost of the children had hurried back to their dwellings and the few dawdlers who remained were also getting ready to leave.  
  
"Would you like to walk with me, Fiona?" Asher asked.  
  
Fiona nodded, "yes, thank you Asher."  
  
The two walked in relative silence for a while until they reached the House of Childless Adults where Asher lived. Fiona looked at Asher for a moment and then decided against whatever question she was about to ask. Asher was the youngest person living in the House of Childless Adults and many people wondered why he had not yet applied for a spouse. Asher wasn't sure he knew the answer himself. He had just never felt the urge to apply. He was happy in the House of Childless Adults, he was happy with his assignment and he only muddled his words occasionally these days. He knew he would have to apply eventually after all he had been out of school for almost three years. Fiona had already been assigned a spouse and they were considering applying for a child next year, but for the time being Asher was perfectly content to be where he was. He and Fiona exchanged polite goodbyes and Asher walked up the small steps to the large building. His room was on the second floor, at the end of the hall. Asher's room looked just about the same as any other room in the House of Childless Adults. There was a narrow bed on one side of the room, a desk on the other, and a speaker on the wall directly across from his bed. Asher's desk was a little messier than normal and sometimes he would knock a paper or two onto the floor and he might even leave them there for a while. His parents had always chastised him for his messiness and he tried as hard as he could to improve and now, more often than not, he remembered to hang his jacket carefully on the hook on the door whenever he came in.  
  
Jonas sighed and dropped his suitcase on the floor before falling back onto the simple bed. He and the rest of his group had been scattered throughout the community. Luckily enough, Jonas had managed to get a room in the House of Childless Adults. He wasn't sure he could have stayed in a dwelling like some of the others. Well, for them, he supposed, the dwellings wouldn't bring back any painful memories. Jonas had searched the all faces he has seen for some sign of recognition, but his group had been ushered from one place to another so quickly that he had not had any time to explore the community at all, perhaps tomorrow… Perhaps tomorrow he would see someone he remembered. Remembering, that very word had become a lifeline for Jonas, sometimes the only thing that kept him from falling apart was remembering the joy and peace he had felt in the community. It may have been only an illusion of peace, but it was enough to sustain him. His happiness had always been real. Well, as real as it could possibly be. They could stop certain kinds of love, but friendship and companionship existed or at least Jonas had believed they did. He had been upset at the thought of Asher not treating him the same way after he had been selected as the Reciever, so he had cared for Asher enough to feel upset at the thought of losing his friendship. So he had felt real feelings even before the Giver had given him the memories. Only ghosts of feelings, but feelings nonetheless, why this was so important he didn't know. He simply knew that he had to cling to the memories of 'before' to make anything 'after' worth while. Even if he wasn't sure exactly what that meant. 


End file.
